842. La double vie de Veronique/The Double Life of Veronique (1991)

Running Time: 98 minutes
Directed By: Krzysztof Kieslowski
Written By: Krzysztof Kieslowski, Krzysztof Piesiewicz
Main Cast: Irene Jacob, Philippe Volter, Claude Duneton, Wladyslaw Kowalski, Sandrine Dumas
Click here to view the trailer

MORE KIESLOWSKI

Technically, I should have probably done this in conjunction with the "Three Colors" trilogy, but I didn't and now, here we are. This will be the final Kieslowski film for a while, as I plan to stash away "The Decalogue" for the finale.

So this film is just a little bit confusing, so beware heading into it and be prepared to give it your full attention. In fact, maybe confusing isn't even the right word - just know that it DOES need to have your undivided attention. Irene Jacob stars in a dual role, first as Weronika, a Polish opera singer. Toward the beginning of the film, Weronika travels to Krakow to be with her sick aunt, telling her father goodbye and leaving behind a boyfriend. In Krakow, Weronika auditions for the lead in an operatic concert and gets the part. Later, during the first performance of the concert, Weronika passes out and is declared dead. Skip to France, as Veronique (also Jacob) makes love to her boyfriend and is overcome with sadness. From here on out, the film becomes more and more about the fluctuating emotions of Veronique and the advances of a puppeteer named Alexandre (Volter). Strange things begin happening to Veronique, as she receives an empty cigar box and a shoelace in the mail, with no return address. She is also awakened one night by a reflection from a neighboring apartment. I'll just go ahead and let you experience the rest for yourself, because trust me, the film is an experience.

SPOILER ALERT!

But is it an experience I enjoyed, that is the question? Well, I don't know. Man, I've been kind of undecided and wishy washy lately haven't I? Oh well, I reserve that right! But, for those of you who have seen this, I think you'll agree that this is a tough nut to crack (damn, I've been overusing that phrase lately too). Anyway, in my view Kieslowski presents to us a slice of life version of French/Polish life, but then doesn't really give us a slice of life movie. The movie that we get is an extremely poetic, extremely artsy film that is sometimes a little overwhelming and sometimes, just sometimes, a little dull. Now, don't get me wrong, the film is beautiful, filled with an unbelievably emotional performance from Irene Jacob (who has surely never been more stunning) and comes off more like a 'come to life poem' than a motion picture. However, for as beautiful as the film is, I feel like we, the audience, were kind of stiffed on the plot and set up for something that could have been really interesting and didn't get it delivered.

And yeah, the movie is a little confusing too. Apparently Kieslowski is suggesting that we are all connected somehow, or perhaps he's saying that we all have someone, whom we do not know, but whom we are emotionally and spiritually tied to, not to mention looking exactly like them. It seems to me that the physical appearance isn't so important and really Irene Jacob could have just played Veronique while another actress altogether played Weronika, as long as we knew they were connected. Also, why such a short time with Weronika? Why not bounce back and forth between the two, so that we could draw parallels. Remember at the end when the puppeteer suggests his new story, about two doppelgangers, one burning their hand on a stove and the other ALMOST burning their hand on a stove? Why not run with that and actually show us things like that. Again, I feel like this was an opportune time to play the plot a lot more than it was played upon. Beautiful film though, I can't say that enough.

RATING: 6/10  Beautiful doesn't always equal best though and I think a '6' will suffice for now, until such time as I can give this one a rewatch.

MOVIES WATCHED: 761
MOVIES LEFT TO WATCH: 240

November 15, 2013  12:25pm

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867. Trois couleurs: Rouge/Three Colors: Red (1994)

Running Time: 99 minutes
Directed By: Krzysztof Kieslowski
Written By: Krzysztof Kieslowski, Krzysztof Piesiewicz
Main Cast: Irene Jacob, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Jean-Pierre Lorit, Frederique Feder, Samuel Lebihan
Click here to view the trailer

DISAPPOINTMENT

Man, I even warned myself at the end of my review for "White", not to let myself get too hyped up for the finale to the "Three Colors" trilogy, or else I'd only be setting myself up for disappointment. A nasty cold (which I still have) kept me from anticipating it too much (hard to think about movies when you can barely breathe and sleep eludes you), however, "Red" came with a heap if disappointment for this viewer.

The main character this time is Valentine (Jacob), a woman who has the world on a string. She's a student of dance, a model of fine clothing and the girl who appears on the billboards, in the middle of busy streets. She maintains a long distance relationship with her boyfriend Michel and she's always bright eyed, polite and ready to tackle the world. One day, while driving home, she accidentally hits a dog with her car. She goes to the home of the owner of the dog and tells him what she's done. The dog's owner is a former judge, Joseph Kern (Trintignant), and he doesn't really seem to care that his dog's just been injured. Valentine leaves the house, gets the dog looked after and then takes her home, deciding to just go ahead and keep the dog for herself. Later, circumstances lead her to meet up with the judge once again, where she returns the dog and finds out that the judge has a hobby of listening in on his neighbors' telephone conversations. Valentine tells him how despicable his activities are, but Kern doesn't really seem to care about anything or anyone. The two continue talking and eventually Kern sees the error of his ways. Meanwhile, Valentine's neighbor, Auguste (Lorit), also shares some of the film's focus, as his relationship with an over the phone weather girl is chronicled.

SPOILER ALERT!

I hadn't had a proper night's sleep in three nights. The cold, that initially resided in my throat, decided to get a divorce, with half going to my head and the other half taking the kids and going to stay with it's mother, in my chest. I'd wake up at all hours of the night, coughing, hacking, sniffling, sneezing and peeing (hey, bladder's don't take time off for cold's), then I'd turn around and get up at around 6ish to go to work. So, it wasn't out of the question that since I was off today, that last night I'd decide to take a big, slightly oversized dose of NyQuil and get the Zzz's I so desperately needed. So I woke up this morning, after a night of no tossing, nor turning and ready to have a go at a movie. So maybe it was that slightly oversized dose of NyQuil that made me a little loopy and ultimately led to my dissatisfaction of "Red". I doubt it, but have to make heads or tails of this. I mean, we were so damn close to having such an amazing trilogy of films and then...kaput! And, not to mention, "Red" is the most acclaimed of all three of the "Three Colors" films. So why didn't I like it?

Okay, I did kind of LIKE it, but compared to the other two, I didn't like it at all. Maybe it had too much of a plot. I mentioned before that "Blue" really didn't have much of a plot at all; simply a woman trying to heal after the death of her family and that for my money, "Blue" is more about mood and atmosphere as opposed to plot. Then you've got "White", which has a plot that I relied on, yet it wasn't too intricate and it was really basic stuff. Then there's "Red" which doesn't focus on just one character (like the other two films), but rather, several characters and has a more intricate plot than the other two, by far. Not to mention the fact, that I really didn't fully understand everything that was going on in "Red", especially the ending. Why do all of the main characters survive the ferry crash? Why does Kern's life seem to mirror Auguste's?

I did some perusing of the IMDB message boards and found one poster's answer, that I liked the best: Perhaps all three films are just dreams of the Kern's? Now normally, I'm not a fan of the "it was all a dream" defense unless it makes a LOT of sense, but I think it does here. For starters, Kern DOES mention something about a dream he's had to Valentine, near the end of the picture, so obviously his dreams are at least a little bit significant here and obviously we know he has vivid dreams. There's also the fact that "Blue" focuses on one character (Julie), as does "White" (Karol), yet "Red" is the final culmination, the one where we actually meet the dreamer and therefore focuses on a few characters (Valentine, Auguste and the dreamer a.k.a. Kern). Also the theme of color seems to have this theory make sense too. How many times have your dreams been bombarded by a certain color? You wake up and you can't remember much, but "damn, the color red was all over that dream" or "wow, there was a girl and...and...well there was a lot of blue". I don't know...

At this point, I'm just talking out of my ass and probably trying to have it all make sense so that I can just accept this as one of the greatest trilogies ever produced. And I just really really wanted to love this one and I didn't. It didn't make complete sense (to me anyway) and it was too busy (especially considering "Blue" and "White"). Perhaps a rewatch someday will spell a better fate for "Red", but for now call this one the worst in the trilogy, with "White" being the best, with "Blue" trailing at a very close second.

RATING: 6/10  So still a good rating, but I opted to focus on the negatives, instead of any positives because I was SO disappointed with this one. Should've been a '10'.

MOVIES WATCHED: 758
MOVIES LEFT TO WATCH: 243

November 12, 2013  11:01pm

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BONUS REVIEW: Trois couleurs: Blanc/Three Colors: White (1994)

Running Time: 92 minutes
Directed By: Krzysztof Kieslowski
Written By: Krzysztof Kieslowski, Krzysztof Piesiewicz, Agnieszka Holland, Edward Zebrowski, Edward Klosinski
Main Cast: Zbigniew Zamachowski, Julie Delpy, Janusz Gajos, Jerzy Stuhr, Aleksander Bardini
Click here to view the trailer

RESURGENCE

Still waging war with "Old Man Winter" in the form of a pretty nasty cold (which can't decide whether it wants to reside in my head or in my chest and for now, is content with hanging out in my throat), I pop in the second of Krzysztof Kieslowski's "Three Colors" trilogy - "White". Remember, "White" is NOT in the "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die" book and I'm only reviewing it here for completist purposes and because, why not?

This time around, our lead character changes from a woman to a man, as we zoom in on Karol Karol (Zamachowski), a Polish born hairdresser, who moved to France when he married French citizen Dominique (Delpy). At the film's beginning, the two are waging war in the courtroom - going through divorce proceedings, Dominique arguing that the marriage was never consummated. Long story short, the honeymoon is over and Karol Karol is broke as a joke, with nowhere to go and no money to get there. He lands in a subway terminal, where he wraps a handkerchief around a comb, making an effective kazoo and trying to earn a few coins to get a hot meal or maybe, just maybe, a warm bed. He is approached by a fellow Pole who offers to help him get back to Poland. The two make friends and when all is said and done, Karol decides to stowaway inside of a trunk and pretend to be luggage on a flight from France to Poland. Not without a hitch, Karol makes it back to Poland and to the location where he practices his hairdressing skills. He's still down on his luck, tired and worn out, but he has plans to get back on his feet. And that, my friends, is the movie: Karol Karol's journey from makeshift kazoo player to self made millionaire - all the while, never forgetting his long, lost love Dominique.

SPOILER ALERT!

In my review for "Blue", I said that the film lacked a certain enjoyability, but still managed to win me over with it's artistic integrity and a somber mood that appealed to me. With "White", the tables turn, as the enjoyability factor is cranked up a few notches, with Kieslowski and fellow writing collaborators focusing less on establishing a perfect atmosphere & mood and more on developing a worthwhile plot, while letting the artistry fall to the wayside. That's not to say that the film doesn't play host to more than a handful of beautiful shots, fine performances and a certain vision that Kieslowski surely had, but only to say there is a much more prevalent plot, whereas "Blue" wasn't really plot driven. Anyway (ramble ramble ramble) I totally enjoyed this and I might even say I liked it just a little bit more than "Blue". I totally clung to the Karol character and wanted to see him succeed, at all costs. The story goes that Kieslowski re-shot the ending to make Dominique seem like less of a monster and in my view, that didn't quite work out, as I still left the film not caring much for her character and thinking she got everything she deserved. In fact, speaking of the ending, that's one of the major flaws here, as I didn't care for the whole thing with Karol going to the prison and having a sign language conversation with Dominique. It just didn't work for me.

However, it's not a major gripe and I can totally live with it. Who doesn't love a good underdog story and it's french too, which is just gravy. Coupled with "Blue", I'd have to say that these two films together have me extremely excited to see "Red", the most acclaimed of the "Three Colors" trilogy.

RATING: 8/10  Gonna' go a smidgen higher with "White" and here's hoping "Red" totally knocks my socks off. I should probably lower my expectations a little bit, so as not to be disappointed.

November 10, 2013  5:33pm

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861. Trois couleurs: Bleu/Three Colors: Blue (1993)

Running Time: 98 minutes
Directed By: Krzysztof Kieslowski
Written By: Agnieszka Holland, Slavomir Idziak, Krzysztof Kieslowski, Krzysztof Piesiewicz, Edward Zebrowski
Main Cast: Juliette Binoche, Benoit Regent, Florence Pernel, Guillaume de Tonquedec, Charlotte Very
Click here to view the trailer

HEALING

Probably should have done some sort of "Kieslowski Week" thing or even posted an announcement saying that the "colors movies" were upcoming, but I went for the "spring it on you" option instead. As a bonus, I'll also be writing a full, formal review for "White", which should probably be up tomorrow.

Julie de Courcy (Binoche), her husband Patrice (a famous composer) and their little girl Ana are involved in an automobile accident, at the beginning of the film - an accident which kills Patrice and Ana. In the hospital, Julie dons a neck brace, an arm cast and several bumps & bruises and is inconsolable when it comes to the loss of her family. She tries to kill herself by taking a handful of pills, but can't go through with it and instead, upon her hospital release, decides to distance herself from everyone she knows. She sells the family mansion, throws Patrice's unfinished compositions in the garbage, allows herself to be sexually taken by a family friend whom has always had a crush on her and then moves into a small apartment, where she plans to live as a recluse. During her healing process, Julie meets and befriends her next door neighbor, a stripper named Lucille (Very), whom everyone in the building wants evicted, save for Julie. Julie spends her nights in a local, public swimming pool, exercising herself out, perhaps a way of escaping the tears that won't seem to come for her perished family. As the title suggests, blue is the prevalent color in the picture, with many of the set pieces and props being blue, not to mention the mood of the main character.

I had seen this one once before, but for the life of me, couldn't remember the bulk of it. Therefore, this was really a fresh watch for me and to be honest, this one was a tough nut to crack. By that, I mean I'm still trying to decide whether it was a masterpiece or whether it was just really boring, with a plot that was barely enough to make a short film, let alone a feature. At about the thirty minute mark, I'd decided that "Blue" wasn't doing much for me and I'd ride it out, write up a negative review and be done with it. However, the damn thing just kept sucking me in and I'll be damned if I didn't end up really liking it. What I liked about it, I do not know - perhaps the mood, the atmosphere, the subtleties, the artistry, the somber nature of the whole thing...who knows. All I can tell you is that this is one of those films where the enjoyability of it all is NOT important, but rather the experience and the fact that you just KNOW you're watching something a little more special than all the other tripe being produced.

Keep peeled eyes for the outstanding performance from Binoche, who performs a seminar on how to BECOME heartbreak and depression. There are some other people in there too, but let's be honest - this is a one woman show and that show is named BINOCHE. I'd also be remiss if I didn't mention the name Slawomir Idziak, the cinematographer of the picture and a brilliant one at that. You know you're watching the work of someone who knows what they're doing and not just some schmuck that had a degree.

RATING: 7.5/10  It's probably going to be one of those movies that is a "love it or hate it" deal. It could easily be construed as boring, if seen by the right eyes, but it also oozes master filmmaking.

MOVIES WATCHED: 757
MOVIES LEFT TO WATCH: 244

November 9, 2013  5:42pm

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